“Few people in the world can appreciate what that feels like — it’s very different to run-of-the-mill players like me who played for England. One of the most difficult decisions I had to take was not picking him for a couple of the camps because he’s been such a great player.

“Just because I didn’t select him because he wasn’t playing well at the time for United doesn’t mean I didn’t have enormous respect for him.

“You have to take tough decisions but I would have loved to be picking Wayne Rooney at 25 or 26 in his prime. What a player we would have been working with.

“If there was a regret, it was selecting him at 31 at a difficult moment for him when he was not playing regularly for his club, rather than at a younger age.”

This week, some of England’s rising young stars have been up close and personal with a legend of the game.

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Southgate fired up the PowerPoint projector when they joined up on Monday to remind England’s players of Rooney’s immense pedigree.

An England debut at 17, the 119 caps, the 53 goals, the six major tournaments, the captain’s armband for the first time against Brazil in 2009.

It was designed to stir the emotions, an intoxicating blend of nostalgia and theatre ahead of tonight’s farewell against the USA. Southgate added: “At the start of the week I put on some of the highlights.

“It was not a film, but key things about the age he was when he made his debut, the age he was at his first England goal, six major tournaments, the moment of his 50th goal, that he’s our record goalscorer. We’ve spoken a lot about our former players and the importance of them.

“We actually didn’t have a montage which captured things well enough.

Wayne Rooney walks out at Wembley on the eve of his England comeback friendly against USA